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KamaAina

(78,249 posts)
Tue Oct 6, 2015, 06:37 PM Oct 2015

Prostitution Ring Leader Claims Former U.S. Senator Spent $20K A Month On Male Escorts

http://www.thegailygrind.com/2015/05/19/prostitution-ring-leader-claims-former-u-s-senator-spent-20k-a-month-on-male-escorts/

You may remember former U.S. Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) as the anti-gay Republican who was embroiled in a gay sex scandal, after attempting to solicit sex in an airport bathroom from an undercover male agent....

He denied he was trying to solicit sex in a public. In front of cameras, he said, “Let me be clear. I am not gay. I never have been gay,” and later reiterated, “ I am not gay. I love my wife. I love my family.”

According to a new tell-all book, the former Senator allegedly preferred the company of very masculine male escorts and would spend nearly $20,000 a month on them.

The book, titled Confessions of a D.C. Madam, is penned by the former leader of a DC prostitution ring, Henry Vinson, who served five years in prison after pleading guilty to federal racketeering charges.


Tap, tap, tap...
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Prostitution Ring Leader Claims Former U.S. Senator Spent $20K A Month On Male Escorts (Original Post) KamaAina Oct 2015 OP
A "wide stance" indeed villager Oct 2015 #1
"i'm not gay". cwydro Oct 2015 #2
Interesting Wellstone ruled Oct 2015 #3
That's a lot of toe tappin'! n/t n2doc Oct 2015 #4
No wonder Republicans are so obsessed with what goes on in the bedroom. forest444 Oct 2015 #5
Cheney Killed The DC Madam billhicks76 Oct 2015 #6
$20K A Month left-of-center2012 Oct 2015 #7
That or campaign donations. yardwork Oct 2015 #10
Even if it was out of his own salary, Volaris Oct 2015 #16
No. That is not how it works. whopis01 Oct 2015 #20
If prostotution is illegal, he was using tax-payer money for illegal activity. graegoyle Oct 2015 #22
It's not taxpayer money if it was from his salary whopis01 Oct 2015 #29
My implication was along the line of... graegoyle Oct 2015 #34
I agree completely. whopis01 Oct 2015 #35
Fair enough. Volaris Oct 2015 #23
That question is a very good one. whopis01 Oct 2015 #30
You are correct, but $20k a month is more than he made as a senator... bubblesort Oct 2015 #31
No doubt whopis01 Oct 2015 #32
I suspect your last guess is correct. ohnoyoudidnt Oct 2015 #33
That's why these legislators go in for so much graft and corruption. They really need a tblue37 Oct 2015 #8
It's very sad, if you think about it alcibiades_mystery Oct 2015 #9
Doesn't make me sad in the least. closeupready Oct 2015 #19
Next up - Ben Stein shadowmayor Oct 2015 #11
"Tap, tap, tap..." Spitfire of ATJ Oct 2015 #12
I think they ended up remodling that Snobblevitch Oct 2015 #13
And just when we thought he had disappeared from our memories... SoapBox Oct 2015 #14
Ah, yes... Lusty Larry WheelWalker Oct 2015 #15
Hmmm I'm surprised Jeff Gannon didn't get to the bottom of this underpants Oct 2015 #17
does this surprise any of us? niyad Oct 2015 #18
So? That's not even a quarter-million per year. Orrex Oct 2015 #21
For many people that is an annual salary. Sick that anyone spends that much money for an illicit Dont call me Shirley Oct 2015 #24
I guess he didn't change planes at MSP often enough. KamaAina Oct 2015 #25
For sex ... that he would deny others. n/t 1StrongBlackMan Oct 2015 #26
Twisted thinking isn't it 1SBM?! Dont call me Shirley Oct 2015 #27
Yep ... 1StrongBlackMan Oct 2015 #28
If you're paying for it its not sex olddots Oct 2015 #36
 

cwydro

(51,308 posts)
2. "i'm not gay".
Tue Oct 6, 2015, 06:41 PM
Oct 2015

I just like sex with men.

I feel sorry for his wife, but who knows, maybe she knew.

 

Wellstone ruled

(34,661 posts)
3. Interesting
Tue Oct 6, 2015, 07:00 PM
Oct 2015

to say the least. Mr. Craig is a high ranking member of the Priesthood in the Mormon Church.

whopis01

(3,467 posts)
20. No. That is not how it works.
Wed Oct 7, 2015, 12:59 PM
Oct 2015

If someone earns money at their job, it is their money. The employer paid for the work they received from the person - the employer did not pay for what the person spent it on.

There are employers out there who feel they have a right to control what employees spend their money on because "they (the employer) paid for it" in their minds. That type of thinking should not be encouraged in any way.

If he used tax money from any source other than his salary - then I would agree with you completely. But if it is his salary, then we paid for his work and nothing else with that money.

graegoyle

(532 posts)
22. If prostotution is illegal, he was using tax-payer money for illegal activity.
Wed Oct 7, 2015, 01:45 PM
Oct 2015

And using his position to create policy. Corruption is in there somewhere. Where is he getting all of that money?

whopis01

(3,467 posts)
29. It's not taxpayer money if it was from his salary
Thu Oct 8, 2015, 07:51 AM
Oct 2015

Last time you went to the grocery store - did you buy those groceries with your employer's money? Do you pay for your housing with your employer's money?

No. You perform work for your employer in exchange for money. Once that transaction is complete it is your money and no longer your employer's.

He was performing illegal activity. And he may have been using tax payer money for it. But what was stated above was that even if it was his salary that he used, that is tax payer money. Which is just not true.

graegoyle

(532 posts)
34. My implication was along the line of...
Thu Oct 8, 2015, 04:20 PM
Oct 2015

...welfare recipients and how some of these Republicans want them to be drug-tested because they are receiving tax-payer money. His salary was provided (arguably) by taxes upon people. It was a bit flippant.

However, that is a lot of money (uncorroborated) being spent: Where did that more than $40,000 per year come from? Was he worried about blackmail? The possible corruption and compromised state of his position should still be investigated, keeping in mind any statutes of limitations, of course.

And I am only concerned about his illegal activity and how he might have tried to prevent his exposure.

whopis01

(3,467 posts)
35. I agree completely.
Fri Oct 9, 2015, 08:14 PM
Oct 2015

If this accusation is true the sources of money need to be investigated. The whole thing should be investigated the same way as if it were you or I involved.

I get your (flippant) point. That concept drives me crazy (the idea that welfare recipients should have to justify their spending to people) - I am sure we agree upon that as well. So I kind of strike back at anything that seems to justify that kind of thinking.

I am pretty sure you and I are on the same page here though.

Volaris

(10,260 posts)
23. Fair enough.
Wed Oct 7, 2015, 06:43 PM
Oct 2015

Seems to beg the question tho (to me at least)

'What useful work did we (the employer) get for the salary he was paid?

I agree with you however, about we don't get to tell him what to spend earned money on..that would be rather dickish of us, wouldn't it?

bubblesort

(2 posts)
31. You are correct, but $20k a month is more than he made as a senator...
Thu Oct 8, 2015, 08:38 AM
Oct 2015

US Senators make around $150k a year. To spend $20k a month would cost $240k a year. If even half of that came from his salary as a senator, then he would have problems making mortgage and car payments.

If this madam is telling the truth then he must have had another source of income. Perhaps investments, or doing side work, or maybe owning a company? Given that he was a senator, though, it's probably something uglier. Those people are always shady as hell.

whopis01

(3,467 posts)
32. No doubt
Thu Oct 8, 2015, 12:17 PM
Oct 2015

I am in no way exusing his behavior or saying that he shouldn't be investigated regarding this.

There are multiple issues at hand - illegal activity in any case. Quite possibly misuse of funds as well. He should be subjected to the same investigstion and consequences that any of us would be in similar circumstances.

ohnoyoudidnt

(1,858 posts)
33. I suspect your last guess is correct.
Thu Oct 8, 2015, 12:35 PM
Oct 2015

Cash bribes for political favors that he could use without attracting attention from his wife or the IRS sounds like a very probable source.

tblue37

(64,979 posts)
8. That's why these legislators go in for so much graft and corruption. They really need a
Tue Oct 6, 2015, 08:01 PM
Oct 2015

lot of money to support their regular expenses.

 

closeupready

(29,503 posts)
19. Doesn't make me sad in the least.
Wed Oct 7, 2015, 12:32 PM
Oct 2015

He had a profitable, powerful career aping those in in his social circle of homophobic lawmakers.

Think of the gay teens who committed suicide, or who attempted it, having been unable to deal with the hatred in their daily lives.

Nope, not at all sad about it. Glad he was caught with his pants down.

shadowmayor

(1,325 posts)
11. Next up - Ben Stein
Tue Oct 6, 2015, 08:10 PM
Oct 2015

OK Ben, now that we know how a "wide stance" (try getting your feet to reach from one side of a stall to the other without taking off your pants while sitting on any public toilet) is normal, tell us about what a generous tipper dear old Larry was when ministering to these wayward young men. 3-2-1 cue Fox News?

Orrex

(63,084 posts)
21. So? That's not even a quarter-million per year.
Wed Oct 7, 2015, 01:07 PM
Oct 2015

Let him who doesn't spend a quarter-million annually on male prostitutes cast the first stone.

 

1StrongBlackMan

(31,849 posts)
28. Yep ...
Wed Oct 7, 2015, 07:11 PM
Oct 2015

I really couldn't care less how much of his money, he (or anyone else) spends on anything ... it's his to do whatever he wishes. I DO have a probably with his condemning others for engaging in the same act; doubly so, he condemns others for doing what he is doing, but it is not an act of commerce.

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